Minister for Sustainability speaks to ABC Wide Bay program about conservation hunting
ABC Wide Bay, Mornings, 19/11/08 09:19am
David Dowsett: What do you think? 1300 221 001 is our talkback number. Should shooters be let loose to reduce the growing impact of feral animals, which apparently is costing the economy hundreds of billions of dollars every year or should controlling pests be part of a wildlife management plan and certainly not a recreational pursuit? How do you see it? 1300 221 001, if you have an opinion on this. Minister for Sustainability, Andrew McNamara who has called in. Andrew McNamara, good morning.
Andrew McNamara: Good morning, David.
David Dowsett: How do you see this? Should shooters be brought in to clean up the bushland?
Andrew McNamara: Well, it’s a good idea, and we’ve been working with shooters for a little while now to try and roll this out. We’ve had a trial running on Curtis Island National Park.
David Dowsett: And how did that go?
Andrew McNamara: It went well. And I think that that shows that it can work. It was - that was particularly targeting goats. We’ve done some work on Tornton National Park near Rocky and we’ll now be heading into Kroombit Tops, which is also west of Gladstone, to again work with sporting shooters to target particular pests, so out at Kroombit Tops, there’s in fact feral cattle are an issue. But, just rolling this out, making sure we get the liability and public safety issues right is important. But it’s clearly, I think, a way that we can work together with the Government and the community and try and get on top of what is a very serious problem. The State of the Environment Report estimated that we lose about $100 million a year in agricultural production due to feral animals and that’s not to - that’s not counting the damage they do in protected areas like parks.
David Dowsett: How do you address the safety concerns?
Andrew McNamara: Well, it’s a matter of obviously working with, you know, a group like Sporting Shooters’ who, you know, then have members who are trained and accredited and they have a plan, as Matthew mentioned in terms of how they’ll go in. It’s a matter of making sure there’s advertising and that the public are kept away while this goes on. Victoria’s been running a program like this for quite some time, which is where it first came to my attention, and they have Sporting Shooters’ weekends for going into their National Parks. We’ve got, you know, more serious problems and I’m wanting to see this roll out, you know, subject to getting those safety issues right.
David Dowsett: So, it’s something that we’ll be seeing a lot more of in the future?
Andrew McNamara: Well, we’re already seeing it in, as I said, three of our National Parks now and I would expect that yes, it’s an opportunity. We have been doing stuff like providing ammunition, for example, to neighbours. So, where the EPA’s been targeting pigs, for example, particularly in a park up north like Lakefield, at the same time providing ammunition to neighbours and saying, it may now be a good time for you to work your side of the fence, so that we get on top of this problem and don’t just have animals crossing the various boundaries. But, bringing the shooters into the parks on designated times to deal with a particular issue is, I think, going to be part of the mix going forward.
David Dowsett: Are there any particular animals that you’re most concerned about?
Andrew McNamara: Oh, pigs do extraordinary damage, but there are others, I mean, its foxes and dogs and cats, goats, there’s cattle and horses. I mean in various ways, we’ve had to work with lots of different options. I authorised outside shooters to go into Carnarvon National Park where we had a massive problem with feral horses, and they cleaned out about 6000 horses that were a serious problem there. So, it’s just a matter of again, working out how we can do this safely, but there’s no doubt that the trials that we’ve run using amateur shooters appropriately on Curtis and Tornton have been successful, and look forward to them helping out at Kroonbit tops.
David Dowsett: Andrew McNamara, thanks for calling in.
Andrew McNamara: Pleasure.
David Dowsett: Andrew McNamara, Minister for Sustainability with his thoughts on that. You’re welcome to give us your thoughts. The phone lines are open, 1300 221 001 is our talkback number on ABC Wide Bay, 1300 221 001. Would you like to see more involvement from shooters being let loose to reduce the growing impact on feral animals? Are conservation hunters the solution to the growing feral animal menace? What do you think? Or, do you feel that controlling pets should be a part of a wildlife management plan and not a recreational pursuit? 1300 221 001 if you have any thoughts on it. 1300 221 001.
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